Gamer's Love
by No1Bookworm
Summary: What were the odds that her virtual friend & teammate went to the same school as her? (Very high apparently.)


If you spot any mistakes or errors, just know that I had to write portions of this in car. I TRIED. Anyways, happy gajevy week!

* * *

Levy had just finished scribbling down her notes from their Literature class when the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day.

It was a Friday, and as much as she enjoyed her lessons, which she really did, she simply couldn't wait to get home. A new game she had preordered _finally_ came in the mail sometime that afternoon.

Hastily she stuffed her belongings into her bag and barely said her goodbyes to her best friend Lucy before speeding off to the bus stop. With luck, she'd be able to catch the bus in time, _and_ avoid bumping into a certain someone.

But of course, it wasn't meant to be.

As soon as she turned the corner leading to the only bus stop near school, she ran head first into Lamy. She was the worst person on earth, Levy decided long ago. Really, she had no idea what she did to incur such animosity from her, but she couldn't do much about it.

"Oh, look what we have here?" The question raised a round of haughty laughter from the crowd that usually hung out with Lamy. "If it isn't little miss wannabe-gamer. Really, do you have nothing else to do?"

Levy wasted no time shooting back a snark reply. "Well, you clearly don't." And before they had a chance to retaliate, she hopped on the bus that had impeccable timing, and didn't look back.

She was used to this kind of teasing, and it didn't bother her as much as it did before. Levy learned how to deal with it, and over the years she had grown more and more apathetic to what people thought of her. But it didn't mean she no longer wished for it to stop.

* * *

The ride home was long, agonisingly so, and she grew more impatient by the second. So when she finally reached her stop, she nearly let out a whoop of joy and jumped off the bus, fumbling to find the right key. She bounded up the stairs before her aunt was able to make it out of the kitchen to say hi.

Levy burst into her room and squealed in delight as she spotted a brown parcel on her bed. She tore off the wrapping with relish, finally holding the long-awaited game in her hands.

 _Breathe, Levy._ She said to herself, before placing it right beside her laptop and heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. Maybe after that she'll go downstairs and grab a quick snack. She was after all planning on playing all night.

* * *

It was sometime after midnight, and Levy was hooked, line and sinker. Already she had levelled up a considerable lot, and had unlocked a decent amount of upgrades.

Levy yawned as she defeated yet another round of monsters, and wearily glanced at the clock. It's bright green glow was almost painful to look at, but then again, so was the game.

 _Thirty more minutes,_ she bargained with herself. _Thirty more minutes, and I'll take a rest._

Right as Levy has said that, another player came online. The player wasn't a newbie from what she could see, but he (she assumed) wasn't very good either. Levy tried to ignore him, but as the player got ambushed by yet another group of monstrous trolls, she took pity on him and decided to help.

Within seconds, she had them all down to their last health bar, and instructed the other player to end them. She watched as 'IronDragon' collected the experience points, and levelled up.

Barely a few moments had passed before a sound from the game notified her that she just received a message. Curious, she opened the wiggling mail icon in the bottom right corner, and saw that it was from IronDragon himself.

 _IronDragon: Thanks shorty, owe you one._

Levy silently fumed, but let it pass, realising that her player name did give off the fact that she wasn't very blessed in height. She replied quickly, not wanting to keep him waiting.

 _Shortstack13: No problemo._

And that was that. Or so she thought. She saw three little dots appear at the bottom of their conversation window pop up right after she sent her reply. Not having anything much to do yet, Levy decided to wait patiently for her new acquaintance to finish while replenishing her own health bar.

But he sure was taking his time. What, was he writing a paragraph? Or was he simply undecided? Either way, the clock was ticking, and she only had fifteen minutes left to play. She was just about to leave the area when her mail icon finally wiggled once more.

 _IronDragon: Hey, uh, can we team up? Clearly you know you're doing, and I don't. Whaddaya say?_

Ah, so he was undecided then. Or a little shy perhaps? She found it cute. Levy sent her reply promptly.

 _Shortstack13: Sure. Though I'm only gonna be online for a bit more._

 _IronDragon: S'fine._

He wasn't kidding when he admitted his cluelessness. Time and time again she found herself face palming at the reckless actions he took. Though if he was stronger, his strategies might actually work… Too bad he wasn't quite there yet.

It was another thirty minutes after her self-assigned bedtime before she finally signed off the game, promising her new partner to meet again next Friday night. She had enjoyed herself a lot more than she thought she would, and despite his constant sarcastic replies and indifference, he was definitely someone she could trust and rely on for whatever. Plus, he never left her side, no matter how low his health was. It seemed her one show of kindness had earned her a loyal companion.

For which Levy was grateful for. It was rather nice, having someone to play with for once.

She was an only child, and an orphan at that. While she did have Lucy, her best friend in the world, she didn't really enjoy games quite like she did.

So actually have a partner was a nice change of pace.

* * *

IronDragon and her had quickly become good friends, and even exchanged phone numbers (though they silently agreed not to share their real names).

They even set up a schedule: they would play every Friday night, at exactly 9 pm on the dot. If either wanted to play on any other day, they could just shoot a text. Thus, the phone number exchange. But its purpose quickly shifted from strictly heads-ups, to everyday chatting.

They would talk about everything, and anything. She found out he was in a band, how popular, he would not tell her. He found out that she adored literature, and was low-key bullied for her appreciation of games. At which he ranted, at length, how games shouldn't ever be classified as strictly a guy's thing.

While Levy appreciated the thought, she honestly found the sentiments more amusingly endearing then helpful. After all, it mostly consisted of cussing and name-calling.

But she'll admit, recalling his little tirade every time she got called out helped a lot. In fact, to Lamy's detestation, she had literally broken out in laughter when they insulted her one afternoon during lunch. Levy didn't mean to, but after picturing her imaginary version of IronDragon screaming his head off, she couldn't keep her giggles in.

Levy told him that very night about what happened, and he hadn't replied for a good few minutes because he himself was laughing, telling her afterwards that he would've given anything to see the faces on her horrid school mates.

She wanted a video.

* * *

Time had passed by quickly, and soon enough her exams were just around the corner. She might even have to cancel a session or two with her partner. Just as she was about to send him a text, her phone buzzed.

 _IronDragon: Hey Shrimp, gonna hafta skip this Friday. Got exams coming up._

Levy smiled down at her screen, secretly enjoying their apparent sync of thoughts.

 _Shortstack13: Was just about to tell you the same thing. How many tests have you got?_

 _IronDragon: Five. Kinda sucks._

 _Shortstack13: I bet._ (And after a moment's thought…) _You're in HS right?_

After she sent it, she immediately regretted it. His personal life really wasn't her business, although they _had_ been texting to and fro for about three months now. But her fears were groundless, as he replied with his normal speed.

 _IronDragon: Yeah. I'm a junior. You?_

Her heart skipped a beat, much to her annoyance.

 _Shortstack13: Same! What are the odds that we go to the same school?_

 _IronDragon: Wanna find out?_

Yes, she said shouted out loud. In her room. Alone. Goodness she was such a weirdo sometimes.

 _Shortstack13: Why not? I go to Fairy High._

This time he took a while to answer. She worried her lips and her eyebrows stayed scrunched up. Did she say anything even mildly offensive? Or maybe he hated that school and decided to never speak to her again? She was about to worry a hole on her lower lip as the three infamous dots finally reappeared on her screen. And then…

 _IronDragon: No. Fucking. Way._

 _Shortstack13: …what?_

 _IronDragon: We've been going to the same school. This whole entire time._

Levy's mind raced. This was, insane.

 _Shortstack13: Seriously?!_

 _IronDragon: Yep. We should meet._

She had to take a few seconds to regain her composure.

 _Shortstack13: Definitely! Let's meet up tomorrow? I'll be by the fountain after school._

 _IronDragon: Sure. Guess I'll see ya then._

Levy couldn't believe it. Her partner, her awesome albeit cocky kickass partner was going to the same high school as her. For all they knew they might have even seen each other and didn't even know it! She was so happy she screamed into her pillow.

Wait, why was she this happy? He's just a friend. _Calm down Levy._

Besides, _he_ probably wasn't freaking about this. He'd be stoic. Anticipating, but stoic. That's what she thought at least.

Little did she know, that a certain red-eyed guitarist was currently slamming his head on the wall, desperately attempting to calm his nerves while his black cat judged him from the windowsill.

* * *

Levy found that she could not focus at all the next day. Not even during Literature, which was her favourite class of all time. It didn't help that her instructors noticed her abnormal lack of interest during lessons. But her knees couldn't stop bouncing and her fingers couldn't stop fiddling. She was just hoping her online partner wasn't in the same class, lest he notice how much of a wreck she was.

When the last bell resounded through the halls conclusively, she shot up from her seat and brisk walked towards the water fountain. She was a few minutes early, but she didn't mind in the slightest if it meant she'd have time to compose herself and calm the frick down because honestly, her heart hasn't stopped trying to jump out of her chest since last night.

Naturally, this is how Lamy finds her, all flustered and glancing around nervously by the fountain.

"What's wrong _Levy_?" Lamy cooed from where she stood, backed up by the usual crowd. "Is the sun's heat getting to you? See, this is what you get for being indoors all the time. Nerd." Cue the laughter.

She gritted her teeth. With her brain still frazzled she couldn't come up with anything to retort with. Until she noticed that the laughter was abruptly cut short by a figure approaching from behind them.

"So this is how you folks really are. Disgusting." Murmurs of surprise, shock, and embarrassment rose, especially from Lamy.

"Gajeel! I thought you were at-"

"Band practice? Yeah, but I had to cut it short. See, I'm supposed to meet with a friend. Right here." Levy's ears perked, and looked up to see a guy who would easily be a head taller than her even if she was standing. He had wild black hair, startlingly red eyes, and even more intriguing, had piercings decorating his face and arms. At least from where she could see.

"O-Oh. Well, we'll leave you be then. See you later!" Levy had never seen her like this, but boy was she enjoying herself.

"Not so fast." Lamy let out a confused sound slip out. "I'd like you to apologise to the little miss over here. Don't think you were being very nice, were you?" This new guy's rough voice was calm, but even she could feel the silent fury emanating from him.

Lamy hesitated for a moment, clearly not wanting to do what he said, but a low warning growl from this guy and she stuttered out a quick 'sorry' before bolting out of there, the rest of the cowardly crew following suit.

It took three seconds for Levy to crack. She held the side of the fountain for support as she doubled over in laughter. The new guy found this amusing because he started chuckling with her.

"So," he asked between her bouts of laughter, "is there any chance you know someone called shortstack13?" Levy, who had finally settled down, smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

"Yeah, I might. Would you know anyone called IronDragon?" His smirk answered the question for her.

"Name's Levy." She said, holding out her hand. He took it instantly, gripping her hand firmly.

"Gajeel."

* * *

It took them five months to realise their feelings for each other, and another two to start dating. But it was the night of their one year anniversary, when he knew he was taken forever.

They had returned from a wonderful night out a few hours ago, and were currently well into a game they had just started last week. This time, they were playing against each other.

Levy had deemed him ready to battle alone, and now they were putting him up to the test. Which had lasted a minute.

Gajeel sat shell-shocked at the screen. There was no denying it. She destroyed him. Utterly and completely. He shifted his focus from the screen to his girlfriend (he still felt giddy about that) and looked on with a soft grin.

She stifled a victorious shout (for his benefit no doubt), and opted for smiling broadly at her screen instead. And when she lifted her eyes to meet his, his heart jumped. The little minx simply smiled wider, if that was even possible, and carried on with the game like normal.

Yet here he was, struggling to breath under the weight of affection she had shown in her eyes. On impulse, he typed out a quick message and sent it to her character, not expecting a reply but desperately needed her to know anyway.

Seconds later he heard a quiet gasp, and worried for a second. What if it was too much? What if had just ruined everything? But then his own mail icon buzzed, and his fears were quieted.

 _Shortstack13: I love you too._

* * *

Voila! Hope it didn't suck too bad. Haha feel free to review and let me know what you guys think!


End file.
